Judicial reform in Iran

Background: Judicial system in Iran

According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Art. 156), the Judiciary is an independent power, the protector of the rights of the individual and society, responsible for the implementation of justice, and entrusted with the following duties:

• investigating and passing judgment on grievances, violations of rights, and complaints; the resolving of litigation; the settling of disputes; and the taking of all necessary decisions and measures in probate matters as the law may determine;
• restoring public rights and promoting justice and legitimate freedoms;
• supervising the proper enforcement of laws;
• uncovering crimes; prosecuting, punishing, and chastising criminals; and enacting the penalties and provisions of the Islamic penal code;
• taking suitable measures to prevent the occurrence of crime and to reform criminals.

Article 157

The top judicial authority in Iran is the Head of Judiciary, appointed by the Leader of the State, with the responsibilities in all the matters concerning judiciary, administrative and executive areas. The specific mandate of the Head of Judiciary includes: 

• Establishment of the organizational structure necessary for the administration of justice commensurate with the responsibilities mentioned under Article 156.
• Drafting judiciary bills appropriate for the Islamic Republic.
• Employment of just and worthy judges, their dismissal, appointment, transfer, assignment to particular duties, promotions, and carrying out similar administrative duties, in accordance with the law.

Since 1978, the structure of the Iranian judicial system has gone through drastic organizational revisions. The present structure of the Iranian court system includes:

• The Supreme Court: it is the highest court in Iran with the task of supervising the correct implementation and proper application of laws by the lower courts, as well as of ensuring uniformity in Judicial procedures. (Article 161 of the Constitution). The Head of the Judiciary, in consultation with the judges of the Supreme Court, nominates the Chief of the Supreme Court who, among other qualifications, must be a specialist in Islamic Law.
• The Court of Administrative Justice:  under the supervision of the Head of Judiciary this court has a mandate to investigate complaints by privates against actions by public institutions and organs (Article 173 of the Constitution).
• The Courts of Appeal: it is the second instance court competent for reviewing cases decided by public and revolutionary courts. In the year 2001-2, 216 courts of appeals settled a total of 40,013 cases out of 345,746 pending cases.
• The Public Courts: These courts have jurisdiction to deal as first instance tribunals and are divided into two categories dealing with civil cases and criminal offences respectively. In the year 2001-2002, 2,260 public courts settled a total of 4,377,160 cases.
• The Revolutionary Courts: the Revolutionary Courts have jurisdiction over various offences including: crimes against national security, narcotic drugs, terrorism, state-related embezzlement, bribery and profiteering, all acts that undermine the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Settled cases at the Revolutionary courts can be forwarded to the courts of Appeal. 226 Revolutionary courts were on operation in Iran in 2001-2002.
• The Military Courts: they are mandated to investigate crimes committed in connection with military or security duties by members of the Armed Forces, the Police, and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. The office of the military prosecutor and the military courts are also part of the judiciary and are subject to the same principles that regulate the Judiciary (Article 172 of the Constitution).
• Office of the Public Prosecutor: Based on the recent amendments to the Law on Public and Revolutionary Courts, the offices of prosecutor general have been reintroduced in the judicial system all over Iran. These offices are now responsible for all pre-trial investigations and referral of those cases were there are strong evidence of a crime to the courts.
• Dispute Resolution Councils: are new bodies established in accordance with to the latest revisions in the judicial system in Iran. These councils are responsible for settlement of minor civil and criminal cases through mediation before their referral to the courts.

 The office of the military prosecutor and the military courts are also part of the judiciary and are subject to the same principles that regulate the judiciary. (Article 172 of the Constitution).

Judges receive on the job training that includes various elements of public and criminal code laws at the Research and Training Center of the Judiciary. In addition, the Judiciary runs directly a specialized school, the Faculty of Judicial Sciences and Administrative Services, the objective of which is preparing jurists to the judicial careers.

The judicial support personnel, too, receive on the job training, which include "job briefing", "vocational training", "general training", and "management improvement". 

Judicial reform: In Iran, as in many other parts of the world, the efforts made by both the Government and the Judiciary aimed at enhancing judicial accountability have become subject of political debates and confrontations. In this context, there is an increasing recognition among top-ranking government and judicial authorities that court reforms following best worldwide practices are needed in order to strengthen the capacity and credibility of the judiciary. One of the challenges faced by the Iranian judiciary in this context is to generate court proceedings and rulings in a predictable, consistent, and coherent manner. Additionally, there's a growing recognition, within Iran's judicial domain, of the need to strengthen the institutional capacity to supply court services in an effective, accountable, and predictable manner in ways contributing indirectly or directly to the prevention of future abuses of public office for private benefit.

Recent court cases as well as statements of opinion makers with insight into the countries political and economical life suggest that lack of accountability among judicial personnel is relatively widespread. The extent and infiltration of corrupted practises at different levels of the Iranian productive and administrative sectors caused Leader Khamenei himself to address the matter several times in his speeches to the nation, as well as to call all Iranian institutions to an all-out campaign against economic corruption ^.

The urgency of addressing the issue of lack of judicial accountability in Iran is not limited to ethical considerations only, but founds its soundest justification in the peculiar structure of the Iranian economy. The flow of capitals controlled by the para-state and private financial institutions, unofficial credit funds, illegal exchange houses, and contraband are all indicated as obstacles to the sound planning of the Iranian economy. Experts from the Ministry of Economy and Finance estimate that the "unofficial sector" controls 50% to 54% of the domestic growth production. The same experts estimate the capital turnover of the Iranian "unofficial sector" reaches $39 Billion USD- almost 17% more than the total government budget in 1998-99".

The excessive overload of unsettled cases in the courts is cause for the considerable increase in procedural times. The current judicial procedures (applicable to both criminal and civil cases) according to which the same judge has to carry out preliminary investigations, trial and issuance of the final verdict (with the exception of some parts of the investigation phase which are undertaken by other judicial personnel) further reduce the capabilities of court personnel to reduce the volume of unsettled pending cases.

The excessive volume of cases to be settled also affects the quality of justice. The continued pressure on judges for settling cases forces them to shorten both time and attention devoted to the different phases during the instruction of cases. As a result of procedural violations, denial of justice occurs frequently and defense layers often advise their clients to resort to extra judicial means of resolving (civil) disputes rather than referring them to the justice administration.

In 2000, the Iranian Judiciary launched the first 5-year Judicial Reform plan. This plan was intended to enhance the planning and policymaking capacity in the field of criminal justice and securing the rule of law. It focused on improving the criminal policy of the Government, according to which all repressive (penal and non-penal) and preventive reactions to criminality had to be addressed.

To this end the Commission on Making Criminal Policy and Reforming the Penal Laws was established in line with implementing the policies and priorities declared by the Head of the Judiciary in the field of judicial reform. The said policies and priorities include the reduction of  the instances of custodial punishment, involving the public in the settlement of disputes, strengthening the amicable means for settlement of disputes, like conciliation courts, the prompter access of people to justice, decriminalization of criminal laws and seeking the public satisfaction of judicial system based on the justice-oriented norms of Islam and Islamic dynamic jurisprudence (Fiqh). Accordingly, ad hoc working groups comprised of criminal science researchers and managers of various sections of the judicial system were formed in the following five areas of work:

• Crime Prevention;
• Criminal Laws Reform;
• Victims Protection;
• Participative Criminal Policy;
• Anti - Cyber Crime.

Upon completion of the first Judicial reform plan, the second Plan (2004-2008) has recently been developed and launched. This plan is based on packages of objective-oriented projects with their own implementation mechanisms, which all together, form a comprehensive plan. In each project, a specific authority or entity has been identified with responsibility of management of the project and the follow-up for its implementation. Each project also includes operational schemes, with assessment indicators specifying the rate of achievement of project objectives.

The scope of the Second Judicial Reform plan covers a wide range of issues dealing with the judicial reform process, including restructuring the of Judiciary, human resource management, improving the courts' procedures, revising substantive and procedural laws and regulations, modification of criminal policy in Iran, protection of victims of crime, etc.

The prison system has also been the subject of the reform process. In recent years, emphasis has been placed by relevant authorities on reducing the number of the prison population, and to ameliorate the conditions of prisoners and other individuals under detention. Iran is among the countries with one of the highest rates of prison population in the world. As an important element of the crime prevention policy of the State, after-release care centers have been established to monitor the social conditions of prisoners, after their release. Currently there are also 23 juvenile correction centers to keep people under the age of 18 separate from other prisoners.